Fran Fraschilla, ESPN’s international draft expert, was the first prominent figure to publicly put an unknown, skinny Latvian big man named Kristaps Porzingis on the radar last May as a potential top-5 pick. Fraschilla said Porzingis, in time, would be on par with college big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor.

Last May, during his annual Chicago-combine media conference call, Fraschilla said, “I’m telling you, he’s in the same long‑term potential range as both Towns and Okafor. I just don’t think anybody’s going to have the guts to take him one or two.”

Fraschilla was right. Porzingis fell to No. 4, where Phil Jackson was positioned to grab him for the Knicks. (Porzingis is expected to finish runner-up to Towns for Rookie of the Year when voting is announced in the coming days.)

Now along comes Dragan Bender, another skinny, perimeter-shooting international 7-footer with growing buzz as Draft Night approaches.

Kristaps Porzingis gets congratulations after he was picked by the Knicks last June.Charles Wenzelberg

Considering the rousing success of the Knicks phenom, should the 7-foot-1 Bender receive a Porzingis bump?

Fraschilla ranks Bender more as a top-10 prospect than a top-5 guy because he hasn’t shown the semblance of an inside game like Porzingis did, nor has he played against the same tough European competition as Porzingis, who spent three seasons in the Spanish League.

“He’s going to be in the top 10, potentially the top five, but I think his best days are ahead of him,’’ Fraschilla said this week. “Remember, he may be the youngest player in the draft. He’s less experienced. He doesn’t have the level of minutes played at the level that Porzingis played the last two years in the ACB in Seville. He’s been in and out of the Maccabi Tel Aviv lineup this year, and rightfully so, by the way, because he’s 18 ½ years old.”

Porzingis was 19 on Draft Night, but turned 20 before training camp. Porzingis also was listed at 7-foot-1 before the draft before the Knicks bumped him to 7-foot-3 (allowing the 2-inch NBA bump for measurements in shoes). Porzingis watched Bender play in person when Maccabi staged an exhibition game at the Garden last winter.

“You’re talking about a guy [Porzingis] that was thrown into the second-best league in the world and he was able to swim rather than sink,’’ Fraschilla added. “This is a different animal with Bender, because Dragan has not played enough basketball at as high a level as Kristaps. And he’s a little bit different in that I think Kristaps, while he’s a perimeter outside/inside player right now, Bender is more of strictly a perimeter stretch-4 man. He can shoot the ball well. He moves his feet well and he can defend.

“I think he’s going to be a better defender than people think, but he’s not nearly the finished product right now that Porzingis was a year ago, and in that sense it’s unfair to compare them. Bender is a terrific prospect, but he’s a different kind of player than Porzingis is.”

Porzingis Lite — at best.

Last May, Fraschilla said Porzingis still was “two years away’’ from making a major contribution because of his lack of strength. On Wednesday, Fraschilla admitted he underestimated Porzingis’ heart.

“I thought the thing that got him through this first season, besides the elite athleticism, was his heart,’’ Fraschilla said. “He doesn’t mind getting dunked on and doesn’t mind trying to dunk on you back at the other end.”